You often hear that the single most important factor in students' achievement is the quality of the teacher. I am a National Board Certified Teacher. I have been working in San Francisco public schools for the past 10 years. National Board Certified Teachers go through the daunting and expensive ($2,300 fee) process of demonstrating to be "accomplished teachers" by meeting stringent national standards set by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (www.nbpts.org). The board uses portfolios, evaluations, student work and tests of the subject matters educators teach to evaluate candidates for its recognition. Teachers reflect on their professional practice and on ways to improve it.

Numerous long-term research studies have proved the positive impact of NBCTs' on students' performance. (For more information, visit www.teachingquality.org/resources/html/CavaluzzoNBCT.htm.) One, conducted by Linda Cavalluzzo of the nonprofit CNA Corporation, found that students taught by National Board Certified Teachers had significantly better results on the math portion of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.

In August 1998, Assembly Bill 858 established the NBCT Incentive Program to provide a one-time merit award of $10,000 to all California teachers who achieved certification. Primarily motivated to improve my professional practice and driven by the lure of a financial incentive to reward my hard work and supplement my income (to be able to afford buying a house in San Francisco), I launched into this rigorous professional development process and achieved certification in 2003.

In August 2003, Assembly Bill 1754 eliminated the $10,000 incentive. Needless to say, many NBCTs such as me were deeply demoralized and angry. We had been promised a reward and again, the government broke its promise, just as it has recently broken its promise when it borrowed $2 billion from Proposition 98 funds and refused to give it back.

An article in Edweek for November 2003 noted: "Charles R. Coble, the vice president for policy studies and programs at the Education Commission of the States ... warned that scaling back or rescinding benefits for current teachers 'would have profoundly negative effects far beyond the politics' of angry teachers' unions. He said such a step would ruin the spirits of teachers who had undergone the time-consuming certification process, steer away those considering the certification, and discourage other people from entering the field. 'When you make a promise to someone of this nature, and then break it after they put their bodies and souls through the rigors of this process, it really breaks morale.' "

As a fellow of the San Francisco Education Fund's Leadership Institute, I conducted a survey among all NBCTs in San Francisco to research the effect of incentives on teachers' enrollment in National Board Certification programs. According to the survey results, though incentives were not the main reason for teachers to pursue certification, 67.5 percent of respondents said they would not or might not have enrolled in a certification program if there were no monetary incentives (scholarships for certification fees, bonuses, salary increases). Survey findings also suggest that monetary rewards do more than motivate teachers to seek certification; they also enable them to do so. National Board Certification fees are steep. Without financial incentives, many teachers would not or could not pursue certification. Monetary incentives appear both to motivate and enable teachers to pursue National Board Certification.

If California is serious about developing and retaining accomplished teachers and closing the achievement gap, it not only needs to keep its promises and invest more in teachers' salaries and per-pupil spending, but also improve teachers' working conditions (i.e., participation in policy decisions, rigorous professional development, better leadership). Breaking promises is a poor policy for retention of highly accomplished teachers.